


If the Sky Comes Falling Down

by Kacka



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-29 22:05:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6395752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kacka/pseuds/Kacka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke is Bellamy's go-to person when Octavia needs female guidance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If the Sky Comes Falling Down

Clarke knows she’s Bellamy’s best friend– he’s told her so on multiple drunken occasions, and after all they’ve been through together she’d be a little offended if he considered her anything less– so it makes sense that she’s his go-to person for help when Octavia needs female guidance and Aurora is busy.

She’s lying on her bed, trying to figure out the composition of a sketch when her phone rings.

“Bellamy?”

“Are you free right now?”

He sounds stressed and serious, so she sits up immediately and starts searching for her shoes.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know anything about tampons.”

She halts in tying her laces.

“And you think this is necessary information for every human being to have, so you want me to come give you a lesson?”

“I don’t need to know how they work,” he says, sounding for the world like this is the last discussion he ever wanted to have. “Octavia has that covered. I think.” There’s some muffled talking and he adds, “Yeah she’s good on that front. But I don’t know what kind to buy her? Mom is working late tonight and O needs some, like– now. We’re at the grocery store near our house. Can you–”

“I’ll be right over.”

She finds them standing in the aisle, Bellamy staring helplessly at the wide variety of hygiene supplies as Octavia compares two boxes, and she tries to stifle a laugh.

She also tries not to blush. Talking about periods with her girl friends is one thing, but her friendship with Bellamy is… different. She’s had a crush on him basically since they became friends, but they’re going to different colleges next year, his near home so that he can help take care of his sister, Clarke’s halfway across the country. She doesn’t think he’s interested in her, and even if he were, starting something now would be really hard.

But his head whips around when he hears her approaching, and he looks up at her with a sheepish, relieved smile on his stupid, handsome face and she can’t push the warm feelings entirely away. Basically, she’s screwed.

“You’re my actual hero.”

“I get that a lot,” she says, coming to stand next to him so that their shoulders bump together. “Hi, Octavia.”

“Hi, Clarke.” Bellamy’s sister smiles nervously at her. At thirteen, she’s skinny and pretty and kind of awkward, all limbs she doesn’t know what to do with and braces on her teeth, but Clarke knows from experience that Octavia never backs down from an opportunity to conquer a new challenge. This won’t be any different.

“So what exactly is the issue, here?”

“There are too many options,” Bellamy says, growing tense again as he surveys the shelves. “I mean, broadly it’s a good thing that there are so many choices. Women can get what they want. But I’m a little overwhelmed.”

“Okay. Stand back and let me and Octavia handle this.” Clarke cracks her knuckles and steps forward, pulling a few boxes from the shelves. They talk through the different options, Clarke explaining what she likes about different brands, and Octavia ends up picking a couple of different boxes.

“Is that going to be enough?” Bellamy asks, worried, when Octavia dumps them in the basket he’s holding. “Does she need anything else?”

“I always like to have my favorite ice cream on hand,” Clarke offers, and Octavia smiles like a shark.

“You heard her. It’s a _requirement_ , Bell. I’ll be right back,” she says, and skips off toward the freezer section. Bellamy turns his worried gaze on Clarke.

“I’m so out of my element here. Does she need, like, medicine or anything? Is ibuprofen good enough? Extra-Strength? Special period medicine? Cramps are bad, right?”

“To put it in your language, I would say period cramps are probably comparable to Prometheus getting his organs pecked out by an eagle. But, you know, not every day. Only a couple days a month.” He finally cracks a smile at this, and she leans into his side. Just to lend emotional support. “Tylenol should be fine, but if her cramps are bad, just text me and we’ll go from there, okay? It’s nothing to freak out over.”

“Yeah,” he sighs. “That’s what O said, too.” He leans into her a little more, like his tension was the only thing keeping him upright, and Clarke is hit with a wave of longing she can usually keep at bay. “Thanks for coming anyway. I’m really glad you’re here.”

“You’d be lost without me,” Clarke agrees, and he laughs.

“Not lost,” he amends. “But I wouldn’t get very far.”

* * *

College doesn’t really change things between them. They text every day and Skype every other week. They both start dating, but Clarke makes it clear to Niylah that she can’t do much more than casual because her heart is somewhere else. Bellamy’s girlfriend is more serious, and Clarke likes Gina, she does, but it’s a little bit painful for her to talk to Bellamy about his relationship so she often skirts the topic.

It’s harder when she’s home for the summer. She gets a job at the mall, but it doesn’t require enough time or attention for her to really push her feelings for Bellamy aside. She sees him almost every day, and sees Gina a lot too, along with Bellamy’s other school friends who are around for the summer.

It hurts when he shows Gina casual affection, every time his arm goes around her or they share a private laugh. They’re not much for PDA, which almost makes it worse for Clarke. All those things, Bellamy used to do with her. Her heart is a little broken, but Bellamy is still her best friend, and she thinks it would be worse if she didn’t see him, so she tries to ignore it. Like she used to.

It’s not so easy anymore.

So it’s a nice surprise when he and Octavia visit her at work, just the two of them. It feels like old times.

“Hey, guys.”

“Hey, Clarke!” Octavia says, bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement. She’s grown up a lot in the past year, and she’s a knockout. “Bell said you could help me pick out some makeup.”

“Mom said she could start wearing it when she goes to high school,” Bellamy says, creases appearing on his forehead that betray his opinions about his Mom’s deal with his sister. “I think it’s too young, but I don’t really get a say.”

“No, you don’t,” Octavia sniffs. “Anyway, when you get a break, do you mind taking us to Sephora?”

“Sure,” Clarke smiles. “Give me like, twenty minutes, and I can take you on my lunch break.”

“You don’t have to do that–” Bellamy starts to protest, but Clarke waves him off.

“Can’t get rid of me now.”

It’s fun, hanging out with the Blakes. She didn’t know she missed it, but in high school they were almost like her other family. It makes her feel nostalgic and loved in a way she hasn’t since she got home for the summer. She and Octavia try out a bunch of samples, Clarke recommending things she likes. Octavia needs almost no guidance, between her pure enthusiasm and all the YouTube makeup tutorials she’s watched, so Clarke ends up picking through the foundations with Bellamy, testing them on her skin and then on his as they catch up and chat.

“You didn’t have to give up lunch for us.”

“I know, but I don’t mind. Some days I forget to eat anyway, so my stomach is used to it.”

“Don’t tell me things like that,” he says, sounding pained.

“You’re gonna start checking up on me, aren’t you?” She teases, testing a blue eye shadow on his wrist.

“Probably,” he admits, his hand twitching in hers. “You know how I am.”

“That I do,” she murmurs absently, comparing the blue to a purple. “I think this one is your color,” she says, grinning up at him. He blinks and looks away, like she caught him doing something he wasn’t supposed to, and pulls his hand back.

“Oh, good,” he says, slightly awkward. “I’m glad you found it. Now I can stop my tireless quest.”

“You’ve clearly been lost without my guidance,” she teases, shaking her head. “You can admit it. I’ve heard it all before.”

“Uh–” He looks around, his eyes lighting on his sister across the store, and he cocks his head. “I’m gonna– go see what she’s– yeah.”

He’s a little bit off the rest of the day, the rest of the summer, really, and it breaks something in Clarke. She thought their friendship would survive college with no issues, but now she’s not so sure.

* * *

They don’t Skype as much the next couple of years, but they still text all the time, they still see each other over break almost more than she sees her family, he’s still one of the most important people in her life.

He breaks up with Gina not long into his sophomore year, and to Clarke’s relief, doesn’t date anyone else. Clarke keeps doing casual, but it feels like a jerk move to try to be serious about someone when she’s in love with Bellamy. She’s not waiting for him, but she is waiting for herself to figure out how to move on. Some days, when she’s feeling brave, she thinks if she could just tell him they might get past it.

She’s deep in the black hole of her senior thesis when her phone buzzes and pulls her out of it. Looking down, she’s surprised to see Bellamy’s number flashing on the screen.

“Hey, is everything okay?”

“Not really,” he admits. “Octavia’s boyfriend broke up with her. I don’t know how to talk to her about it? I’ve never– I don’t know what she needs.”

“That’s hard,” Clarke says, leaning back in her chair and starting to pack her things. She shouldn’t be in the library for this conversation. “How’s her emotional state? Is she sad, or mad, or–”

“A little bit of both.”

Clarke hums quietly, exiting the library and beginning the trek to her apartment.

“You should ask _her_ what she needs, as far as space. She’s Octavia. She knows herself. She might want you to just be there for her, you know? You don’t even have to say anything. She’ll talk if she wants to, she’ll make you hug her if she wants one, she’ll kick you out if she wants to be alone. Just be there for her. That’s the only advice I have.”

He’s silent on the other end.

“Bell? You there?”

“I’m here. I just– I don’t know what to say to her, if anything.”

“You’ve never had your heart broken?”

“Only once,” he admits, quiet.

Her breath catches in her throat. Time has helped, but she’s just as in love with Bellamy as she ever was. His relationship with Gina was a wake-up call for Clarke. She didn’t know if they were ever serious to think about lifelong commitment, but she wants that for Bellamy someday. He deserves that. And it breaks her heart to think it won’t be her.

“How’d you get over it?” She asks, gripping her phone tighter.

“I’m not yet. That’s the problem,” he sighs.

“It’s been years since Gina,” Clarke protests. “How come you never told me?”

“Because it wasn’t Gina who broke my heart. Technically, it’s kind of a preemptive heartbreak.” He swears softly, so familiar it almost makes her smile. “I didn’t want to– I was going to wait until after graduation to do this, once I was sure we could be in the same place again, but– it’s you, Clarke. It’s always been you, for me. I didn’t notice right away, but in retrospect… it’s pretty obvious.”

Clarke slumps against the wall of her dorm, too overwhelmed to dig out her keys.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m moving back after I graduate,” she says, sure he can hear the smile in her voice. He knows her just that well.

“Yeah?” He asks, hopeful.

“Either that, or wherever you want to go. It’s always been you for me, too.”

He swears again, in disbelief, and this time she lets herself laugh. She’s giddy with relief, with letting herself really _feel_ her feelings for the first time in a long time.

“You should go,” she says gently. “You have a sister to comfort. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yeah,” he says, sounding pleased. “I know you aren’t.”

* * *

She pulls up at her new apartment complex and before she even has the car turned off, Bellamy is there, knocking on her window. Faster than she thought possible, she’s out of the car and in his arms, and it feels like coming home in a way that visiting home never did, throughout college.

“Happy to see me?” She teases, though she’s gripping him just as tight.

He loosens his grasp just enough to catch her face for a kiss. It’s new and familiar at the same time, stirring the butterflies in her stomach and putting them to rest, all at once.

“Ecstatic,” he breathes, pulling back. “You need help with your stuff?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” she teases, motioning to the heaviest boxes, piled in the backseat of her car.

“Sorry I have my priorities straight,” he says, hefting one into his hands. “I think I already got in a fight with one of our neighbors. She started it, though. It’s not like I was trying to unlock the wrong apartment on purpose.”

“Clearly you’re lost without me,” Clarke teases as they make their way inside together, and he looks back at her with a fond smile.

“I really am.”


End file.
